Steel bleacher



Jan. 21, 1930.

- STEEL BLEACHER Filed May '7, 1925 Fig.1.

Patented Jan. 21, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HENRY D. OBERD'ORFER,OF CHAMPAIGN, AND RALPH R. BRAMI-IALL, OF DECATUR,

' ILLINOIS STEEL BLEACHER This invention relates to a permanent seatingstand of the type commonly known as bleachers. The principal object ofthe invention is to provide a structure of this kind which is simple andstrong and can be econominally erected at any desired place. Otherobjects of the invention are: to provide a fabricated structure whichmay be easily and quickly set up; to provide new and improved seat andfoot rest supports; to provide a sectional stand of this kind which canbe ex tended laterally and to any height; to provide improved, hand railsupports; to properly space the top and back rails; to provide aislestep supports; and in general, to provide the construction herein shownand described.

I11 the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a sideelevation, partly brokenaway, of a metal bleacher constructed in accordance with the principlesof this invention Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectiontaken on the line 44: of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a detail illustrating theside hand rail; Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the back rail; and Fig.7 illustrates a section of the hand rail at the splice of another highersection.

This invention is designed and intended to provide a permanent grandstand or bleacher construction to which sections may be added whendesired both at the, sides and at the rear. The supporting or structuralparts are W all metal, principally in the form of channels, angles,sheets andplates, and the seat and foot boards as well as the side andrear hand rails are preferably made of wood. The supporting towers. orbents are intended to be fabricated and connected in fiat form at thefactory and then erected and connected by angle braces on the .job. Thisenables any one, even with unskilled labor to quickly and accuratelysetup the bleachers where it is desired to use them. The sections orpieces may be bolted or riveted together.

In erecting these bleachers, foundation blocks 1 are set in the groundat intervals and are preferably made of concrete so that one ormoreanchor bolts 2 may be set in them with a threaded extremityextending from the top for the attachment of the supporting ly spaced toreceive the supporting metal parts which are provided with perforationsto engage the anchor bolts.

Each section comprises a pair of spaced rectangular towers between whichare cross connecting channels 3, the towers and channels supporting theupwardly inclined channel stringers 4. The addition of another sectionlaterally requires only another supporting tower and other crossconnecting channels 3 for supporting the stringers 4 of the additionalsection. The additional section however, is less in width than theoriginal one by the width of one of the towers. The addition of asection rearwardly requires supporting cross pieces to complete a tower,and rear supports for carrying an additional length of stringers, asshown in 1.

At the lowermost ends of the stringers-they may rest upon the frontblock or abutment 1 and they are also supported by angle clips 5 whichengage the foundation bolts 2. At the succeeding abutment verticalsupports 6 of different lengths are required. These supports arepreferably in the form of angle bars and they are supported at the lowerends by angle clips 7 and 8 and connecting plates 9. The angle bars ofadjacent abutments are turned in opposite directions so that they lendthemselves readily to the formation of towers illustrated in Figs. 1, 2and 3, of different heights, by the cross connection of angle bars 10with the connection plates 9 at the corners of the towers in onedirection, and the similar cross connection of flat bars 11 in adirection at right angles thereto. As for example by the straight anglebars direct- 1y connecting the plates 9 in both directions on thetowers, and extending between the supports of adjacent towers arestraight angle bars12 which greatly strengthen the towers and thesupports.

The inclination of the stringers requires a greater height at the rearof the tower than atthe front thereof, and cross bars 11 are connectedbetween the plates 9, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. From the higheror rearmost supports additional connecting plates 13 extend laterally toform a means for connection of angle bars 14: which are attached to thecross channels 3 intermediate the towers thereby additionallystrengthening the support for the stringers 4 at the upper ends thereof.With this construction it is apparent that additional supports andtowers are easily connected with those already erected for the purposeof adding sections to the bleachers either laterally or at the rear. Thesupports are connected for partial erection at the factory, theconnecting bars and plates are provided with perforations properlylocated and spaced so that it is necessary only to attach the partstogether by means of bolts or rivets when the entire structure isassembled. For example, the pairs of supports 6 which are connected bythe flat bars 11 are assembled in the factory and when they are placedin position the angle bars 10 and 12 are attached in place.

Each seat comprises a metal bracket 15 attached to the upper side ofeach of the stringers 4 with wood strips 16 bolted in place thereon.Each foot board comprises a similar bracket 15 disposed at the undersideof each stringer, the bracket being inverted and the foot board 17 beingbolted in place thereon. Each bracket 15 consists of a flat strip ofmetal bent at right angles intermediate the ends, and the extremitiesbeing given a quarter turn so that they are at right angles to theadjacent surfaces of the strip. One extremity 18 remains straight butthe other one 19 is given a slight bend as well as a twist so that thescat boards 16 are supported not exactly horizontal but with a slightpitch rearwardly making the seat more comfortable. Likewise the footboard is pitched slightly in a rearward direction. The holes for theseat brackets and the holes for the foot brackets are all on the samelongitudinal lines so that they are easily positioned, and it is an easymatter to properly position the brackets when assembling'them for theseats and foot boards. The front edge 20 of the front seat board ispreferably bevelled ofi? and rounded to make the seat more comfortable.

At the end of each bleacher section a hand rail 26 is commonly providedwhich is supported by an angle bar post 27 secured by means of a plate28 to one of the uprights 6. A supplemental bar 29 may also be securedto the post 27 parallel with the hand rail 26. In order to provide forsectional hand rails and additional bleacher sections, angular brackets30 are attached at the side of the post 27 (see Figs. 5 and 7) toprovide a double surface for the insertion of fastening bolts 31.

In splicing the stringer channels for additional upper seats, a sideplate 32 connects the stringer. The junction point is immediately abovea vertical support 6 so that an upper hand rail or back rails 33, asshown in Fig. 6, may be attached at the upper ends of the stringers.These back rails 33 are supported by uprights 39 each of which isattached by means of bolts 40 to the upper end of a channel stringer 4L,and the rails 38 below the top one are preferably disposed above andbelow the upper end of the side rail 29 so that it would be verydiflicult for a person to fall from the upper end of the stand. The.bolt holes in the upright 39 are at an angle so it will standvertically. If these back and hand rails are bolted in place they areeasily removable for the addition of sections at the side or rear ofthose already erected. In extending the bleachers laterally the handrail for this side may be removed from the section already erected andsimply moved to the outside of the added section. The same is true ofthe back rails.

With this construction it is apparent that every provision is made forthe addition of sections both laterally and at the rear, the seat andfoot board supports can be easily and quickly attached, and an aisle canbe placed wherever it is desired. While the structure is described as apermanent one, it is apparent that by making the connections between theparts with bolts insteadof rivets, the whole structure can be quicklyand easily taken down and assembled.

We claim:

1. A sectional grandstand comprising separate rectangular towersgraduated in height from front to back, transverse cross piecesconnecting the tops of the towers, inclined stringers supported at thetops of the towers and by cross pieces intermediate the towers, andadditional lateral units comprising corresponding towers, cross piecessimilarly connecting them with the corresponding towers, and additionalstringers supported by the added cross pieces between the towers and bytowers parallel to the other stringers.

2. A stand of the class described, a plurality of separate structuraltowers s aced apart laterally and in rows graduated in height, crosspieces connecting the corresponding lateral towers, inclined stringerssupported at the tops of the towers and said cross pieces intermediatethe towers, means connecting the adjacent towers of each row, and anadditional rear extension comprising a similar tower of additionalheight, additional connecting means therefor to the last previous towerof the row, and additional stringer sections connected to the stringersalready in place and forming a continuation thereof.

3. In a stand construction, a plurality of angle bar upright supports,the said supports being arranged oppositely in pairs to form arectangular tower, means for permanently connecting the opposite pairsof supports prior to the erection of the tower, and angle bar crossconnectors for connecting pairs of permanently connected supports toform the supporting tower, means connecting the towers at the topthereof and inclined stringers supported by said means between thetowers and by said towers.

4:. In a sectional stand, a plurality of inclined stringers, means forsupporting said stringers comprising cross connected pairs of uprightsspaced apart and means for connecting said spaced pairs, and anadditional rear extension comprising similar pairs of uprights similarlyconnected, sectional stringers forming an inclined continuation of the 5stringers, and means for connecting the stringers and said uprightsupports.

5. In a stand construction, the combination with. a plurality ofinclined stringers, of supports therefor including connected pairs ofuprights spaced apart from other connected pairs, 2. cross bar extendingbetween the connected pairs of uprights at the tops thereof, connectionplates extending laterally outward from the supports of each pair, and

inclined supporting bars extending from the plates upwardly to the crossbar intermediate the ends thereof.

6. In a structural metal stand, a plurality ofinclined stringers andupright supports therefor, transverse seats carried by the stringers, ahand rail comprising posts directly connected to upright supports at theouter side of one of the stringers, and a back rail also directlyconnected to the upper ends of the stringers above the uppermost seat.

7 In a metal bleacher construction, an inclined stringer which includessectional extensions thereof, and a sectional side hand rail comprisingposts attached directly at the outer side of the stringer and each posthaving lateral angular perforated brackets, wood hand rails attachableto the posts, the brackets forming a double means for attachment so thatthe extremities of two hand rails can be attached in line to the samepost corresponding with the sectional addition to the stringer.

8. In a bleacher construction, an inclined stringer, seats carriedtransversely thereof, back rails, a post for supporting the back rails,and means for securing it in upright position at the upper extremity ofthe stringer, said means including bolt holes arranged transversely atthe end of the stringer and corresponding bolt holes at an angle at thelower end of the upright, the bolt holes in the stringer being disposedfor a sectional addition thereto.

HENRY D. OBERDORFER.

6O RALPH R. BRAMHALL.

